Sketch: Cameron strikes right note for sombre occassion

What a grim first day back. David Cameron’s Downing Street press conference
began with an unprecedented delay of one hour. We were told there was “a
good reason” for this, and speculated that there had been a bust-up in the
coalition, or a bicycle accident.

By Andrew Gimson

7:00AM BST 12 Oct 2010

It was worse than that. Mr Cameron launched straight into a statement about the new information he had received yesterday [Monday] morning concerning the death of Linda Norgrove: “Linda may not have died at the hands of her captors as originally believed,” but may instead have been killed by a grenade detonated by one of her American would-be rescuers.

The Prime Minister described this as a “deeply distressing development”, and he himself looked deeply distressed, while remaining in full command of his faculties. In adversity, Mr Cameron is good at striking a note of sombre self-possession. He said he had “spoken to Linda’s father”, but did not reveal what was said, or pretend that someone like himself could feel as deeply afflicted as the family.

Mr Cameron instead described the uncertainty which surrounds the “two very, very difficult options” in cases like this, which are “to act”, with the possibility that the hostage will be killed, or “not to act, to delay, to pause, to wait”, with the possibility that the hostage will be killed anyway.

In the end, as the Prime Minister said, “it is a judgment, it is a balance…you weigh up everything”. He was by implication making clear that we cannot adopt the supine principle of refraining from action when British citizens are kidnapped.

The Prime Minister praised the bravery of the Americans who had mounted the attempted rescue. As a politician, Mr Cameron has the gift of turning a setback into an opportunity to create or to cement a coalition. An occasion which might have divided us from the Americans was instead becoming a way of strengthening our alliance with them.

The same note of resolute high-mindedness was struck by William Hague in his statement to the House. According to Mr Hague, “Linda’s life was in grave danger”, there was “no credible option for a negotiated release”, and “a rescue operation was the only realistic hope”.

Yvette Cooper, on her first outing as shadow Foreign Secretary, had no choice but to sound supportive. Ed Miliband sat glumly at her side, not yet looking quite at home as the new Leader of the Opposition. From time to time he raised his large, round eyes to the press gallery, as if wondering what reception he will get there when he takes on David Cameron for the first time at Prime Minister’s questions on Wednesday.

Jack Straw, who has returned to Labour’ back benches after three decades as a minister or shadow minister, including five as Foreign Secretary, offered his “full support” to Mr Hague for the “excruciatingly difficult” decision that had to be taken. Mr Straw warned against second-guessing such decisions “from the languid luxury of hindsight”.

The only people in Westminster who enjoyed the luxury, if that is what it is, of criticising the Americans, were some of those who did not speak in the Chamber. We bumped into a former British serviceman who said of the Americans alongside whom he had soldiered that they were “so trigger-happy, those bastards, you’re almost safer being the enemy”.